


She's Not Coming Back

by Buttercup (Buttercup_1)



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Adoption, Captain of the Guard, Gen, baby cass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21634219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttercup_1/pseuds/Buttercup
Summary: After Cassandra is abandoned by her mother, the Captain of the Guard finds himself taking on the daunting task of caring for a child.
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 72





	She's Not Coming Back

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly just Cassandra wanting to find someone to love her and the Captain having no idea how to interact with a kid.

The Captain of the guards cringed at the sound of a child sobbing in his ear. He had no idea what he was going to do with her, but he couldn’t help but wish he was bringing the stolen princess back to the castle instead of the kidnapper’s daughter.

The man immediately berated himself for the thought and gently rubbed her back. The sound of crying was starting to grate on his nerves, but it helped that the little girl was cute and actually had a good reason to be making as much noise as she was.

“Captain, maybe we should have left her at the cottage…” The Captain pulled his horse to a stop.

“I wasn’t going to just leave a toddler in there alone after that witch abandoned her! Who knows if she would have ever come back? Look, I can find someone who can take care of her and give her a good life in Corona. I’m sure there’s someone there who wants a kid.” He turned away from the guard who questioned him and continued back towards their kingdom. 

They rode without another word and it wasn’t too long after they started moving again that the girl had tired herself out and fell asleep, salty tears streaking her face.

It wasn’t until he got to the door of the Royal Chamber that he felt nervous. He had gone out to chase the woman who kidnapped their daughter and came back with the wrong kid. He took a deep breath, the child still asleep in his arms with his helmet on, and knocked on the massive doors.

“You May enter.” The Captain waited for Nigel to open the doors and hesitantly stepped into the throne room.

“Your majesties.” He bowed his head before looking back up to the two hopeful parents, their eyes fixated not on him, but on the child in his arms.

“Did you find Rapunzel?” The king looked desperate and the Captain didn’t anticipate telling him that he failed.

“No, your majesty… I apologize we couldn’t catch her.” He looked to the ground and had to restrain himself from flinching when the king yelled at him.

“Then what’s this? You fail to find my daughter and bring back another child? What is the meaning of this?” He looked down to the toddler and then back up to his ruler.

“Please, your majesty… we tried to recover the princess. This, this girl is the child the princess’s kidnapper left behind.” The king was fuming and the Captain had never feared for his job more in his life.

“So what? Is this some kind of trade off? I don’t want this witch’s offspring! I want my daughter back!” The queen placed a calming hand on her husband’s arm and walked over towards the Captain and the girl in his arms. She stopped directly in front of them and could immediately tell she was terribly neglected. Her hair was long and tangled, her dress was covered in dust, and her complexion was pale as if she was never brought outdoors to play.

“Poor thing… Thank you for trying to bring our daughter home, we know you tried your hardest. Now, what do you plan on doing with this little one?” The authoritative man froze at the question and realized he had no idea aside from getting her out of that house.

“I- I don’t know yet. I don’t even know her name or how old she is since she hasn’t stopped crying since her mother left her… I was hoping someone in Corona would be able to take care of her and actually treat her right.” Arianna frowned and looked up to the Captain in concern.

“I know this might not be ideal for you, but if she just lost her mother, maybe it would be best if she stayed with someone she recognized and knows what happened to her.” The man’s eyes widened at the implication.

“You want me to take care of her? But my job is demanding, your majesty. I don’t know if I could take care of her. Besides, I- I don’t know how to raise a kid much less a girl.” The royal gazed back down at the girl who subconsciously cuddled into the captain as if craving to be closer to someone.

“Nobody knows how to raise a kid until they have one. If you need help, you can come to us, but she needs someone she recognizes and it looks like you might be that person.” The Captain of the guards sighed in resignation and nodded.

“Yes your majesty, I’ll get her into a bed.” The queen nodded and dismissed the new father.

Cassandra woke up in a bed, but it didn’t take long for her to realize it wasn’t hers. She sat up fast and looked around to see the man who had brought her from her house asleep beside her. The young girl felt anxiety rise in her chest and it was almost suffocating. 

She slid out of the bed as to not alert the man and turned the doorknob on the door only to find that it was locked and there was no way out for her. The pace of her breathing picked up and she tried to open the door again, but this time with more force. Her efforts yielded no results and that was when she switched tactics to screaming for help.

“Mama! Mama, help!” Tears built in her eyes as she hit her small fists against the door. The noise pulled the captain from his sleep and his eyes widened at the sight of the panicking girl at his door. He quickly got up and ran over to her and knelt down to the ground, unsure of how he planned on calming her down.

He reached out for her and she plastered her back against the door to get as far away as possible.

“Where’s my mama? Bring me back to my mama!” Her eyes were glaring at the captain, but the tears in them gave away her fear,

“Kid, listen to me. Your mama’s not coming back for you. You’re going to live here now.” She shook her head in denial.

“Bring me back to my house! She’ll come back! She’ll- she’s gonna come back! She promised! She told me she would only be gone for a little while!” The tears fell down her face and the man took on an annoyed frown when he realized she was in denial that her mother abandoned her.

“Kid don’t you get it? She lied to you! She isn’t ever coming back! She doesn’t  _ want  _ you!” Her glare faded and her gray eyes squinted as more tears fell.

“Why doesn’t she want me? I did what she asked me to do! I- I can do better! Tell her I’ll do a better job!” His eyes widened as the girl dropped to the ground rambling about doing better and how much she loved her mother who most likely never cared about her in the first place.

“Come on kid, stop that. You know it’s not your-” He was cut off by a sob and more banging on the door.

“Mama! Come back! I’ll do better, I promise! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…” Her pointless apologies dissolved into a round of heart wrenching sobs and the Captain stared at the girl in shock of the emotional spiral.

“Hey! Hey it’s not your fault! Look at me kid.” His voice softened as his chest clenched at the child’s obvious pain that nobody her age should be exposed to. He gently helped her into a sitting position and tilted her chin so he could meet her eyes. “Look, you didn’t do anything wrong, your mother is just… She did a very bad thing. Your mother is selfish and would put herself over you anyday. I know you loved your mom, but you deserve better than someone who would just leave you like that. She didn’t leave you because you did something wrong or because you weren’t enough. She left you because she wanted something else, something she could use to her benefit. I know it hurts and I know you’re sad, but your mother is never coming back for you. Your home is here now and nobody here is going to abandon you. Do you understand that?” The small girl hiccupped as she took in a breath but nodded through her tears. 

“I- I understand…” The man felt sympathy for her and wiped some of the tears from her face before grabbing a clean handkerchief to dry her face completely.

“I’m sorry this happened to you kid. You didn’t deserve it… let’s get you back into bed.” She looked to the ground sadly and nodded again.

“My name is Cassandra…” She introduced herself in a weak voice, but the Captain appreciated knowing his new daughter’s name.

“My name’s Captain, Cassandra. How old are you kid?” She looked up to him as he picked her up with wide, glassy eyes.

“I turned 4 last week.” He froze for a moment and realized how awful it must be for the girl to have lost her mother just after her birthday. He didn’t know much about kids, but he did often see the happiness of them with their families as they celebrated another year of life. Cassandra probably never had that.

Settling back into his bed, the Captain placed Cassandra on the other side of his bed and closed his eyes to fall asleep again, back to her. It was only maybe a minute after he closed his eyes that he felt the weight of a small figure curling up against his back. 

The man froze at the contact and rolled over to face the girl only to see her flinch back and throw her arms up to protect her face. His eyes widened and immediately tried to calm her down.

“Hey, hey, I’m not going to hurt you, Cassandra. Come here.” She hesitantly crawled back over to him and snuggled into his chest when he put a protective arm around her. Captain waited until she fell asleep before closing his eyes and falling asleep himself.

He woke up the next morning with his arm being cuddled like a teddy bear and a small girl nestled comfortably against his chest. The close contact was foreign to him, but with Cassandra he wasn’t sure he minded it. Captain looked to the clock across the room and realized with a start that he was running late. The man pulled his arm from his adopted child’s grasp and ran to his closet to get ready for training. Halfway through his morning routine, he heard a small, tired voice calling for him, a small waver in it.

He finished brushing his teeth and ran back out to the little girl who was shaking like a leaf on the bed. As soon as she saw him, all signs of terror and sadness disappeared from her expression.  _ She probably thought he left her too _ .

Cassandra jumped from the mattress and flung her arms around one of his legs.

“Good Morning Captain.” An uncommon smile worked its way onto his face and he lightly ruffled her hair.

“Good morning Cassandra. I have to go into work today so I’m going to leave you in here. I’ll be back when the little hand on that clock gets to the 12, okay?” Her smile dropped and she looked up at him hopefully.

“Can- can I come with you?” Captain chuckled a little.

“I’m afraid I can’t bring you with me. How about you get some more sleep and when I get back we can get lunch.” She looked like she wanted to argue but thought better of it and backed down.

“Okay… and you’ll be back?” He felt his heart drop at her uncertainty in his return, but nodded.

“Don’t worry I’ll be back. I’ll see you later, Cassandra.” She waved to him as he walked out of the door and locked her in.

Instead of going to sleep as her new guardian had suggested, she stared at the clock and waited, and waited, and waited. Watching the clock tick made the few hours seem like years and she started to feel the fear creep in that maybe he was lying and wasn’t going to come back for her, just like her mama. Cassandra curled up in a small blanket on a chair and stared at the door anticipation, only occasionally checking the clock.

By the time the little hand touched the twelve, the small child’s gray eyes shot up to the door, only to feel abandonment and horror fill her chest to the point where it was getting hard to breathe. She threw off the blanket and tried to open the door to find she was locked in. Panic filled her thoughts and she pounded on the door.

“Captain!” She repeated his name, each time her voice became more frantic and scared. When the captain finally got back to his room, albeit a few minutes after the small hand hit the twelve, he heard his newly adopted daughter banging on the door and calling desperately for him. Captain ran the remaining distance to his room and unlocked to door. The second he opened it, he felt a small weight shoot into his leg and arms wrap tightly around his knee. 

Frowning in sympathy, he wondered what he could do to assure her he wasn’t going to abandon her. He gently pulled her arms from his leg and picked her up so that they could find purchase around his neck instead.

“Hey, kid, I promised you I was going to come back. I’m not going to abandon you. I’m not like your mother.” He felt her arms embrace him tighter.

“I missed you.” The unfamiliar feeling of his chest warming up followed her simple statement and the warrior allowed a smile.

“Come on, let’s get something to eat.” He felt her nod into his shoulder. Captain walked to the mess hall and adjusted Cassandra in his arms so she could see what food was available.

“What would you like?” He looked down at the child and realized she was staring at the menu like she had never seen one before. Now that he thought about it, could she even read? Has she ever even left that house before he brought her back to Corona? She looked up to him for help.

“What’s a schnitzel?” The captain chuckled at her confusion but decided to help her out.

“It’s a meat dish. That’s what I’m getting if you want that too?” She nodded lightly and curled herself further against him.

“Yes please. Thank you.” He smiled at her manners and squeezed her affectionately. After ordering, he found the two of them a table and helped settle her into a chair. He looked at her as he sat across from her and wondered how someone even as disgusting and evil as Gothel could just abandon such an adorable and well mannered little girl. He was about to ask her a question, but the Cassandra beat him to it.

“What were you doing this morning?” Her eyes were hopeful and curious, but she seemed to be bracing herself at the same time. Maybe she was expecting to be reprimanded.

“I had to go to work. I’ll have to go again tomorrow.” She looked hesitant to speak again, but after a few seconds she did anyways.

“What were you doing at work?” He now understood that maybe that was her original question and he just answered it wrong.

“Oh. I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard in Corona. Every morning I have to hold a training session for the soldiers on the guard to make sure they’re all in shape and up to standard.” Her eyes brightened with childlike wonder and curiosity.

“What does the royal guard do?” He chuckled at her inquisitions.

“We protect the kingdom of Corona from threats like criminals and enemy attacks.” She nodded in understanding, and looked back up to him, hopefully. 

“Can I do that too? I want to go with you!” He frowned as he pictured everything that could go wrong if she came to work with him. A four year old around that many swords and crossbows seemed like possibly the worst idea the captain had heard in a long time.

“Cassandra that’s not a good idea. There are a lot of things at my work that could get you hurt by mistake. Maybe when you’re a bit older.” Her face fell again, but quickly perked back up when their food was placed on the table. 

Unlike most kids the Captain has been around, Cassandra waited until he started to eat to start eating herself. She deliberately cut her food into small pieces and kept her eating space cleaner than any child he had ever seen. He smiled at the girl fondly and turned his attention back to his own food. Between every few bites he looked back up at Cassandra to make sure she was doing okay. He was halfway through his meal when he looked back up to make eye contact.

“Is everything okay kid?” She looked as if she wanted to say something, but looked back down at her food.

“Everything’s fine…” Her tiny voice lowered and it was obvious that she was hiding something, but the captain figured if she didn’t want to talk that gave him less to deal with. He finished his meal in silence and when he looked back up to check on his daughter, she already had most of her food packed in a box to save for later.

“That’s all you wanted to eat?” She looked up to the Captain with wide eyes.

“Don’t I need to save some for the next few days?” He flinched back and shook his head.

“No, of course not! You’ll get more food later tonight… Did- how often did you eat when you lived with your mother?” She almost looked confused.

“I got food and then mama would leave and I had to wait until she came back to get more food.” Memories of her telling him that sometimes she had been left alone for a week resurfaced and made him despise the witch more than he had before.

“Listen, kid. Things are going to be different here. I won’t leave you alone, I’ll make sure you have food to eat, I won’t hurt you, and most important of all, I won’t abandon you.” He wiped a stray crumb from her cheek and kept a gentle hold on her chin. “Do you trust me?” Her gray eyes sparkled and she lunged forward to wrap her arms around him, her face buried in his chestplate.

“I trust you.” The captain smiled slightly and picked her up with one arm, using the other to bring her food with him. He walked out of the mess hall and back to his room where Cassandra could hopefully finish her meal. As they reached the door, he was surprised to see the queen with a pile of clothes in her arms.

“Your majesty.” Captain did his best to bow to the queen with the girl in his arms.

“Hello Captain, I was just bringing by some more clothes for her to wear. Also I wanted to give…” He noticed the queen’s inquiring look.

“Cassandra.” She smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I wanted to help give Cassandra a bath.” The captain felt her arms wrap tighter around him and gently rubbed her back.

“She could probably use one. Let’s put her clothes in my room and then I can hand her off to you.” The queen nodded and walked into the room behind him and Cassandra. She placed the clothes on a dresser and turned to the Captain to see him placing his daughter on the ground. Her heart broke a little when the girl just ran right back to the Captain and clung to his leg. He groaned a little in frustration and picked her up to hand her off to Ariana. As soon as her dad’s hands left her and Ariana held onto her, Cassandra immediately started shaking and tried to get back to the Captain. The Queen held onto her tightly and tried to comfort her.

“Hey, sweetheart he’s going to be here when we get back, I’m just going to help you wash up.” The man cringed as Cassandra’s eyes filled with tears.

“Captain! You promised you wouldn’t leave me! I- I’m sorry, I’ll do better!” Tears fell down her face as the queen started to move towards the bathroom.

“Kid, I’m not leaving! You’re just getting a bath.” Arianna put the girl down and watched as she ran to the Captain and buried her face in his leg. With a frustrated sigh, he pried her arms from his knee and knelt down to make eye contact, keeping her an arms length away. He was ready to lay into the child, but swallowed his harsh words when he saw the fear and sadness in her eyes. “I can’t give you a bath, Cassandra. Queen Arianna is just going to help you clean up and bring you right back to me after that. Okay? Remember when you said you trusted me?” She nodded solemnly. “I need you to show me that you trust me and go take a bath. It won’t take long and maybe you can get to know the queen too. Okay? Can you do that for me?” She looked up at him and nodded again before hesitantly walking over to Arianna, periodically looking back to the Captain to see if he was still there. Once she reached the queen, she looked up to her.

“Can I have a bath please?” Arianna nodded and knelt down to be on the same level as the child in front of her. She tried to keep a brave face, but the queen could see the fear hidden in her eyes.

“Can I pick you up? Don’t worry, I won’t keep you from the Captain for long.” Gray eyes met green ones and Cassandra’s tiny features softened as her shoulders dropped a little. The girl gave a small nod and the mother gently lifted her so that her head had a shoulder to rest on. The queen walked out of the room and stroked the girl’s back gently as to comfort her the best she could.

The Captain huffed in frustration after the door closed and sat down on his bed. The original plan had been to let Cassandra stay with him until she got over her mother and found a nice family to take her in, but it was quickly becoming clear to him that she wasn’t getting over anything anytime soon and finding someone else to raise her wasn’t an option. 

While he didn’t necessarily want a daughter or have the time to raise her the way she deserved, Captain had to admit that he was developing a major soft spot for the little girl. 

Cass had her arms wrapped around the queen’s neck as she carried her to the bathroom.

“What’s your name?” The little girl tried to make small talk with the woman.

“Arianna. It's nice to meet you, Cassandra.” The child smiled at her kindness and let it fall silent for a moment.

“What’s your favorite color?” The queen teared up a little at the childlike questions she had imagined her own daughter asking her.

“Purple. And yours?” Cassandra had to think on it for a little while, but answered quietly.

“I like gold.” Arianna opened the door to the bathroom and gently set Cass on the ground.

“Gold is a pretty color, like the sun.” She looked back to the small girl to see her smile. The queen tested the water temperature to feel that it was warm, but not too hot.

“Cassandra, can you come over here and tell me if the water feels okay to you?” She walked over to the queen and stood on her tiptoes to reach the water. 

“That feels okay.” 

The captain had just finished polishing his sword when he heard a gentle knock on the door. He quickly opened it and smiled at the sight of the little girl, hair still damp and dressed in a gold dress. She ran forward and hugged the captain’s leg again as if it had been a year since she saw him last.

“Hello, Cassandra, do you want to finish your meal from earlier?” She nodded her head and pulled away so that he could lift her up and place her in a chair at a small table. He brought her food out to her and she almost immediately started eating. 

“I’ll be right back, Cassandra, I just need to talk to the queen for a moment.” She looked a little nervous, but hesitantly nodded.

“Okay, Captain.” He smiled to her and walked out of his room with the queen.

“Captain, What did you want to talk about?” He looked towards the door with a small frown on his face.

“Your majesty, I don’t have time to raise a kid. Especially not one who has some extreme case of abandonment issues. I- we need to find a family who can take care of her before this gets too far.” The queen also looked back to the door.

“I know you didn’t plan on having a kid and it doesn’t exactly fit in your schedule, but she really likes you and it would really mess her up if you gave her away to someone else.” The Captain groaned in frustration.

“She’s already messed up! She’s cute and all, but she freaks out every time I leave her in the room or with anyone else. Don’t you think it would be better to just rip off the bandage?” The queen shook her head.

“Captain she’s a good kid and she doesn’t deserve to go through that again. If you need help taking care of her, I can help, but I don’t think you should give her to another family.” He sighed in defeat.

“Fine. But I’m not officially adopting her. If her mother or some biological father comes by, they can take her.” The queen nodded in understanding. 

“That’s fine, Captain.” 

Cassandra had finished her meal and walked over to the door to let the captain know, only to stop when she heard part of the conversation.

“Fine, but I’m not officially adopting her.” She felt her heart break a little and realized for the first time that maybe Captain didn’t like having her around. Maybe she had to do something for him to love her, just like her mama. 

Cass felt her heart drop again and she suddenly wanted to cry. How was she going to earn this man’s love if she couldn’t even manage to keep the love of her own mother? She fought back the tears and curled up in a blanket on the windowsill, looking out at the moon and stars until she eventually just drifted to sleep.

The captain walked back into his room to see the table was cleaned off and Cassandra was asleep on the windowsill. He immediately felt guilty for even thinking about giving her to someone else and carried her over to his bed. He put her head on a pillow in the spot next to him and drew the blankets to cover them both.

Cassandra woke up the next morning I’m the captain’s bed, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Her first instinct was to assume he left and wasn’t going to come back, but she remembered promising that she would trust him. 

She took a shaky breath and reassured herself that he was at work until her heart rate returned to normal. Cass looked up to the clock and saw that the little hand was on the 10, meaning he probably left when it was on the 9. She slid out of the bed and got ready for the day the best she could on her own before checking to see if the door was locked. 

To her immense excitement, the Captain had forgotten to lock her in and she ran out of his room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she took in all the doors and halls. Without another thought, she ran down the corridors in search of Captain.

It wasn’t too long before a man stopped her and picked her up.

“What are you doing in here?” She flailed around in his grip as he picked her small form up by the back of her dress.

“I’m trying to find Captain! Let me go!” Her tiny features twisted into a glare, but the cute girl was not at all intimidating to the small man.

“Why are you looking for the Captain? He’s busy, child, go back to your mother. I’m sure she’s looking for you!” Cass’s pupils shrunk and she showed her teeth in a threatening way.

“My mama is  _ not  _ looking for me!” She swung one of her legs a little too far and a little too hard and kicked the man in his rather large nose. A sense of satisfaction swelled in her chest as he dropped to the ground and she was free of him. 

Before he could get back up, she ran further down the hall, this time more cautious to avoid the mean people in the castle. She stopped for a little and looked around her to realize she had no idea where she was.

Instead of panicking like she wanted to, she turned another corner and heard the sound of Captain’s voice behind the wall. With a smile on her face, she silently opened the door and snuck into the room and hid behind a few crates. She looked out from behind them and watched in awe as all the men were fighting with long, shiny swords and shooting arrows. She felt a wave of jealousy come over her when he praised one of them for finishing a really hard obstacle course with a lot of time left in the hourglass. 

She continued to watch the men and decided there that if she could do what the other men were doing, the captain would love her. 

Behind the crates, Cassandra tried to mimic them with a stick for her sword and found herself having fun. She looked back out from her hiding spot and saw all of the men lifting heavy looking weights and doing push-ups with people on their backs.

Cass dropped the stick and tried doing a few pushups, but fell down after about 5. She frowned in disappointment and told herself she was going to keep doing push-ups until captain wanted her. 

About an hour later, Cass heard a loud whistle and peeked out from behind the crates again, but this time, everyone was leaving. Her eyes widened as she realized she needed to get back to the room before captain did. Just like she snuck in, Cassandra silently ran back into the castle and froze. She had no idea how she got here. She was about to just run, but was spotted by the man she had kicked and a much larger man with a crown. 

“That’s her!” The large man looked down at her and she put on her most innocent smile.

“Hi, my name’s Cassandra, what’s yours?” The man looked down at her with a raised brow. She was a very cute little girl, but he knew she was the witch’s daughter.

“That’s not important, it’s ‘your majesty’ to you. Is it true that you kicked Nigel in the nose earlier?” She looked up at the king, eyes shining brightly.

“Who’s Nigel?” Frederick raised a brow and pointed to his assistant.

“This man beside me.” She giggled adorably.

“Oh yeah, he was mean to me earlier and he wouldn’t put me down.” The king took on a frustrated look and was about to scold her when the Captain walked out.

“Cassandra? What are you doing out here?” She looked back to her father figure and ran over to hug him.

“Hi, Captain!” The soldier picked her up and looked to the king in question.

“She kicked Nigel in the nose. You need to teach her some of the rules around here Captain.” The guard groaned at the news and put the young girl back on the ground before kneeling in front of her, glare on his face.

“Cassandra, you shouldn’t have been outside of my room much less kicking other people in the castle!” She frowned at the anger in the man’s expression and flinched back, half expecting to get hit. He immediately felt bad for yelling.

“But he wouldn’t put me down…” The captain kept a stern look, but dropped the glare.

“That doesn’t matter, you can’t do that! I don’t want to hear anything like this again. Is that clear?” She felt her heart drop as she felt like she just took a huge step back on earning his love.

“Crystal…” She was staring at the ground as she once again fought back tears. 

“Now come on, let’s go get lunch.” He picked her up again and carried her to the dining hall in silence.

It was later in the night and Cass rolled over in the bed to check if Captain was asleep. If his soft snores were any indicator, he would be out until the little hand hit the 7. She had about 8 numbers to train.

Very quietly, as not to wake the man up, she grabbed a cardboard sword she made, snuck out of the room and made her way back to the place the other men were training.

Cass tried to mimic the sword movements she had seen earlier in the day. She repeated and repeated the movements and the posture until she finally thought she got it right. 

The young girl gently put her sword on the ground and looked determinedly towards the weights. She walked over to them and tried first to lift the smallest one. Her arms screamed with excessive strain and she dropped the weight in frustration. She tried again to lift the thing and once again had to drop it after getting it a few inches off the ground. Cassandra tried again and again and again to lift the weight and only set it aside after the 50th attempt. 

She screamed through her teeth in frustration and forced tears back as she told her self one day she would be able to do it and it would make the Captain love her and want her. 

With that thought, she worked on doing all of the things she saw the men doing without the weights; the pushups, the sit ups, the planks, the burpees, and even the laps around the course.

She looked up to the clock, her mind and body screaming for rest and water, but she realized the little hand was close to the six and she was dirty and sweating. In a panic she looked around and smiled at the sight of the clear pond she had been getting her water from. 

Cass ran over and used handfuls of the water to wash the sweat and dirt from her skin until she felt clean enough to go back to Captain's room. Just as she had gone out, she silently snuck back into the room and after drying off a little bit, crawled back into bed beside her father figure.

This routine continued on for a week before the Captain started to realize something was different. The little girl had started to look different and it didn’t stop at just how tired she looked. She was getting skinnier, her cheeks had narrowed to reveal a defined set of cheekbones that a 4 year old shouldn’t have. When he picked her up she was about the same weight, but her grip around his neck felt stronger.

It was when the two got back from lunch that the Captain got really concerned.

“Cassandra? Have you been sleeping okay, kid?” The little girl had bags under her eyes and it was honestly concerning.

“Umm… yeah. Why did you think I’m not?” He looked at her skeptically, the small yawn she allowed giving away her lie.

“Well, you’re looking a little pale for one and you have bags under your eyes. It’s okay if you’re having trouble sleeping, kid. I can get you help if you need it.” She held her sleepy look and started to argue back.

“I’m fine. I don’t need hel-” her voice faded with each word of her sentence before she just crumbled to the ground, unconscious. The Captain’s protective instincts went into overdrive and he ran over to the small girl he was becoming quite attached to; not that he would admit it.

“Cassandra! Hey kid, you okay? Cassandra!” When she didn’t respond, he scooped her up in his arms and ran her to the medical wing, not bothering to stop for anyone who greeted him. When he got to his destination, he ran up to a doctor and pleaded for their help.

“Please help her! We were having a conversation and she just passed out in the middle of it!” The doctor took Cassandra from his grasp and the captain could only stare after her as they rushed her to the back and told him to wait outside. He hadn’t remembered a time when he was more worried for a single person and swore to himself he would never let anything happen to the child again while she was under his care. 

Captain tried sitting on one of the chairs in the room, but doing nothing while she was going through who knows what made him feel sick. He started pacing and threw his helmet against the wall in frustration. If he had let someone else take care of her she would be fine right now, he was sure of it. He felt dangerously close to crying with his hands holding onto his hair.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he left her to the doctors, but he looked up to see a concerned and inquisitive queen. She didn’t have to ask.

“I- I don’t know what happened. I fed her and put her to bed every night, but she started getting skinnier and she looked tired. I was asking if she was feeling okay and she just dropped to the ground in the middle of her sentence. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.” Arianna quickly walked over to the Captain who now had tears in his eyes.

“Captain, I’m sure she’s going to be fine. If there’s anything seriously wrong with her I’m sure our doctors can help.” The large man continued to pace the room and almost tackled the doctor when he walked out of the room.

“What’s wrong with her?” The doctor looked startled, but recomposed himself when the queen placed a hand on the Captain’s shoulder.

“It seems she hasn’t been getting enough sleep. How late has she been staying up?” Captain took on a confused look at the diagnosis.

“I’ve been getting her into bed before 10 every night and she wakes up around the same time I do… I don’t understand because she goes to sleep before me and wakes up after I do.” The doctor also took on a strange look. 

“That is indeed strange. Perhaps she wakes up when you fall asleep and gets back in bed before you wake up. That would be the only explanation unless she just lays awake all night. Maybe you can find out by talking to her. She’ll be in a drug induced sleep for about five hours. She’s stable, so you don’t have to worry about any updates if you want to get some work done for the rest of the day.” The captain nodded reluctantly and headed back to his room to finish some paperwork from the dungeon report. Once he got back, however, he noticed something small and brown sticking out from his bookshelf that he knew had not been there before. He walked over to the anomaly and pulled out a child sized sword made out of cardboard. 

The captain was beginning to get an idea of what had been going on when he realized the two books it was wedged between; “A Warrior’s Manual” and “Sword Fighting 101”. He flipped through the pages and every dog eared page was a step by step visual model of how to perform certain attacks and maneuvers. Inside the manual, all of the exercise visuals, agility training, survival, and gymnastics tutorials were bookmarked. 

Everything started to come together: The time she was outside of the barracks with the king and Nigel, she must have snuck into his morning training session. She saw everything they did and since the Captain told her she couldn’t go to work with him, she had started sneaking out after he was asleep and trained all night, sneaking back into the room before he could wake up and realize he was gone. The one thing that didn’t make any sense to him was why. The child was becoming more and more of a mystery to him every day. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be angry, proud, of concerned, but all three seemed a reasonable way to feel.

He walked back to the medical wing, deciding that he wasn’t in any kind of mental state to get any quality work done and decided to sit in the room with Cassandra, studying her sleeping form to realize her arms were starting to show some definition. If he hadn’t been sure about his assumption, he was now. She had been out training every night.

Cassandra’s eyes fluttered open slowly and the first thing she realized was that she wasn’t in the Captain’s room. The walls were white and the bed was less comfortable. Her heart rate picked up and the monitor beside her reflected that in much more frequent beeps. Her first assumption was that the Captain finally decided to abandon her too, but her fears were put to rest when the man appeared in her line of sight.

“Cassandra? You okay kid?” Her heart monitor started to slow back to a normal rate and she nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine… where are we?” He kept his intense stare trained on her.

“We’re in the medical wing. You passed out and they said it was because you weren’t getting enough sleep. What’s going on?” He had hoped she would be honest and tell him, but she didn’t speak at all, leaving her response as a simple shrug. He felt disappointment and frustration bubble up.

“Look, kid, I found your little sword and the pages you bookmarked in the books. I know you’ve been sneaking out at night and trying to learn everything I teach the guards. Why would you do that after I already told you you’re not old enough?” She looked visibly upset at his clear frustration.

“How old is old enough?” He looked at her in exasperation as she seemingly missed everything else he said.

“At least six! You can’t even read yet!” She crinkled her nose at the number. She didn’t like the thought of waiting two years for this man to love her.

“I can do it though! I can do all the sword stuff, I can do all the flips, and I can lift the heavy things!” He shook his head.

“No! You can’t Cassandra! You are a toddler for god’s sake!” Her pout returned and she crossed her arms.

“Yes I can! I can show you!” He returned her determined look with a stern glare.

“Why do you even want to do this? Why aren’t you just like a normal toddler?” Her eyes welled up, but she fought against the burning in her eyes.

“I just want to be like you so you’ll love me!” With that, she lost her fight and the tears fell from her eyes. She wiped at them angrily as they fell and the Captain’s expression softened.

“Hey, come on kid. You- that’s not how love works…” She continued to try and fight her tears back, but they kept running down her face.

“Yes it is! You like all of the guys who can do all of this stuff and you smiled at one of them, so you’ll love me too if I can do it!” He couldn’t decide if he felt bad for her that she thought she had to work for someone to love her or if he was frustrated with how stubborn she was.

“No, Cassandra, that’s not how it works. You don’t have to work to earn love from people. You can’t just make people love you by doing something for them.” Her bottom lip started trembling and from the heartbreak on her face he hadn’t said the right thing.

“So you’re never gonna love me? No matter what I do?” The tears she had just forced away reappeared and this time fell down her cheeks without resistance. He stared at her in shock and was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t know at all how to respond to that. Apparently his lack of response made it worse. Her small whimpers turned into choked sobs. 

Cassandra rolled onto her side so she was facing away from him and curled into a ball, her small body spasming with every breath she tried to take in.

“Come on, kid, stop that!” He heard a high pitched whimper and cursed himself for being so bad with fragile situations.

“I-‘m sorr-ry” She choked out an apology between sobs and the Captain felt his heart break at how  _ hurt  _ she sounded. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and rubbed comforting circles with his thumb like he had remembered his parents doing for him when he was younger.

Very much like the day he brought her back, she didn’t stop crying until she fell asleep. He felt his own heart break a little at how affection starved the girl was.

“Cassandra… kid, come on I didn’t say I was never going to love you. You need to stop living in the past and looking into the future. Your mother is not in your life anymore and you would be a lot happier if you stopped setting so many expectations for the future. Look at where you are. You’re living in a castle with someone to take care of you. There’s nothing to cry about!” He watched her try to stop crying, but every time she took in a breath, her body jerked out a sob.

“But nobody wants me here… I just want to do something that will make people like me. I don’t wanna be useless again! That’s why my mama left. I wasn’t good enough and I want to be good enough for you, but you don’t want me either!” She never turned around and he was almost sure it was so he couldn’t see she was crying.

“How many times do I have to tell you that wasn’t your fault? Can you not understand what I’m saying to you?” She turned back to face him and sat up, the tears were gone, but replaced with a desperate look on her face.

“Please, I can show you that I can do all the sword stuff. I- I can be worth your time, I promise, please let me show you!” He shook his head as he realized no matter what he said, she wasn’t going to understand that love was supposed to be an unconditional thing. She didn’t have to earn it.

“Cassandra, that’s enough! I told you very clearly that you had to be six before you’re old enough for that. I don’t want to hear another word about it. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” The girl visibly deflated and went quiet, a blank look on her face.

“Yes, sir.” She avoided his eyes and he only hoped she got the message he was trying to get across to her.

It had been hours and he hadn’t heard a word from the girl since their conversation.

“Cassandra come on, it’s time to go to sleep.” He pulled the blanket back from his bed and looked over, only to be surprised that she had made her bed up on the windowsill, already asleep. He allowed a sigh and shook his head before tucking himself in. This time, once he fell asleep, Cassandra didn’t move from her sleeping place.

The Captain came back from his practice to find his room clean, a cardboard sword sitting in the trash can. He looked around for Cassandra, but didn’t see her anywhere.

“Cassandra?” His heart rate picked up when he didn’t hear a response. He looked in the bathroom and under a few tables and when he didn’t find her there, he started to panic.

“Cassandra! This isn’t funny, come on we need to get lunch.” He walked over to the windowsill she had slept on the night before and picked up the blanket and pillow. He moved it back to his bed, but stopped when he heard something fall out and hit the ground. He looked back and saw a small figurine. Captain bent down and picked up what appeared to be a mini figure of himself. 

The Captain figure was clearly not professional work, but whoever made it seemed to have put in a lot of effort. His armor was painted gold, the sleeves red with white gloves. The pants and boots were black, the helmet was topped with red bristles, and it even included his mustache.

Captain found the small figure adorable and set it on his desk before putting the blanket and pillow on his bed. He stopped, however, when the blanket crinkled as if there was paper in it. He threw open the blanket and grabbed the small piece of paper, un crumbling it so he could read what it said.

‘ _ Captain, _

_ I want to stay with you, but I know you don’t want me to stay here. I know you don’t have enough time to deal with me, so you don’t have to anymore. I’m sorry for being annoying and for trying to make you like me. Goodbye, I hope you’re the best Captain ever. _

_ Love Cass’ _

The captain stared at the letter in shock and his stomach knotted in an unpleasant way. She left who knows how long ago and he could only hope she didn’t already get too far. He ran out of his room with the letter and looked through every hallway, calling out for her.

“Cassandra!” He turned another corner and almost bumped into the queen. “Oh! My apologies, your majesty.” He started to continue down the hallway, but was stopped by an inquiry from Arianna.

“Captain, what’s wrong? Did Cassandra wander off again?” He shook his head and pulled out the letter.

“She left and I need to find her before she gets herself killed out there.” The queen took on a scared look and she looked to the Captain in desperation.

“Please find her as soon as possible.”

Cassandra walked through the woods outside of Corona with nothing but a rusty knife she had found one night on the training grounds. The sun was beginning to set and Casandra was starting to regret leaving the castle. The longer she walked, the harder it got for her to see. The noises of the night echoed around her and even though nobody was there, she felt like she was being watched. Her stomach growled and she froze, hoping no monsters heard her. Above her, she heard an unfamiliar sound and something fell on top of her. 

Cass let out a startled scream, and only screamed louder when she saw what had landed on her. She swore it was an alien. They both scooted away from each other, but that was when Cass realized that the apparent alien had wings and a small beak, one of the wings bent at a weird angle.

“Hey, wait, you’re hurt…” she crawled back towards the bird and it scooted further away. She stopped moving closer and instead held out her hand. “I want to help you.” She stayed in her spot and held her hand out, waiting for the scared creature to feel comfortable around her.

She sat with her hand outstretched for a few minutes before the bird finally walked over to her and nudged its head into her hand. Cass gently scratched its feathers and offered her forearm for it to climb onto. It climbed up her hand until it was finally perched on her arm and she slowly got up, making sure not to knock the bird off balance.

Cassandra made sure the animal was okay before she started walking further through the woods. 

The Captain lit a lantern and got on his horse, running throughout Corona, calling for the girl who had run away. With no luck in the city, he made to search the woods on the outskirts of Corona.

Cass had set her new companion on a small log once she got too tired to walk any further and she got to building a small tent out of sticks and leaves as she saw in the warrior manual. As soon as she finished she brought the bird inside with her to sleep. The small creature nuzzled into her neck and though it didn’t fall asleep, it enjoyed the warmth she radiated.

The Captain ran through the woods, fearing that he would never see his kid again. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he had just lost a daughter or a part of his family.

“Cassandra!” He guided his horse through the trees and scanned his surroundings thoroughly. He was almost at the edge of the woods when he saw something that caught his eye; a small tent built at the base of a tree. 

Captain jumped off of his horse and knelt in front of the tent, crying in relief when he saw the familiar face of the girl he was growing so fond and protective of.

Cassandra woke up at the sound of something outside of her tent. All she could see was a blinding bright light in the entrance and pulled out her knife, hiding her new friend behind her protectively.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she lowered her weapon, recognizing the Captain.

“Captain?” He looked scared and Cassandra immediately went on the alert, tightening her grip on the knife.

“Cassandra! I’ve been looking all over for you! Come on, let’s get back to the castle.” She looked up at him skeptically.

“Why did you look for me? I told you you didn’t need to take care of me anymore and I know you don’t want to.” He shook his head and placed a gentle hand on her cheek.

“Come on, kid, don’t make me say it…” He felt frustration that the girl was going to make him tell her that he loved her before she went anywhere with him, but then a thought crossed his mind. Maybe she honestly just didn’t think he did and honestly felt like she hadn’t done enough to deserve it.

“Say what? I just want to know why you want me to come back? I- do you need someone to clean up your room?” He felt his heart break at the assumption that he only came to get her so he could have someone to clean up his room.

“Cassandra, honey, please understand what I’m saying here. I didn’t come out looking for you because I felt bad, or because I wanted someone to do stuff for me. I…” he let out a frustrated sigh and braced himself for what he was about to say. “At first, I’ll be honest, I hated the idea of raising a kid, but you… I love you, Cassandra. I think of you as a daughter I never thought I wanted but don’t think I could live without. Not because you stayed up all night and trained to sword fight, or because you cleaned up my room before you left, or because of the cute little figurine you made. I love you no matter what you do because that’s what family does and I want you to be part of my family. I won’t make you live with me if you don’t want to…, but I don’t want you out here by yourself. What do you say, kid?” She looked happier than the Captain had ever seen her and she crawled out of her tent to hug her new dad tightly.

“I won’t let you down, dad. I promise.” The man returned the hug and allowed a few tears to fall down his face as he buried his nose in her hair.

“I love you so much, kid. Don’t ever run off like that again.” He heard her sniffling lightly into his chest.

“I love you too, and I’m sorry…” The two sat together in an embrace until the sound of the baby owl broke them apart. Cassandra gasped lightly and reached in the tent to bring out her new friend.

“Honey, what’s this? Where did you get an owl?” She looked at the small creature and delicately touched its broken wing.

“Dad, he’s hurt. Can I bring him back to the castle and fix him?” The captain felt his heart melt at her kindness and nodded. 

“Of course you can, come on, let’s go home.” She smiled and giggled when her dad lifted her onto his horse and jumped on behind her.

Once the two got back to the castle, the Captain brought her back to his room and gave her full access to the first aid kit.

“Don’t hurt him now. I’ll be back after I let Arianna know you’re back.” She nodded happily and turned her attention back to the bird.

The captain knocked on the door to the throne room and stepped in with a bow when Nigel opened the door.

“Captain! Did you find Cassandra?” The queen spoke up, eager to know if the child was back in the safety of the castle.

“Yes, your majesty, she’s back in my room at this moment.” Arianna sighed in relief.

“Good, and how is she doing?” The man nodded. 

“She’s doing well and I would like to officially adopt her.” She nodded in approval and smiled.

“Good, I’ll have the scribe send you all the necessary paperwork by nightfall. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?” He bowed respectfully.

“That was all, your majesty.” Arianna nodded.

“Then you are dismissed.” The Captain repeated just gratitude and walked back to his room. He opened the door and smiled at his daughter and the owl who’s wing was now in a makeshift cast. She had made a small bed on the windowsill, but this time it was for the owl and not her.

It was a year later when the captain finalized all of the adoption papers and though he would never admit it to anyone, he shed a few tears and would consider it the best day of his life for the many years to come. 

She was reading a geography book on the plants and animals around Corona with her owl perched on her shoulder when he walked back into his room with all the papers.

“Hey, Cassandra?” Her attention was immediately taken from the book and she turned a bright smile in his direction.

“Yeah dad?” He tried to hide the small smile, but failed miserably. She was finally his and he could officially call her his daughter.

“I have something to show you.” Owl flew as if he knew the drill and Cassandra got up to run over to him, gray eyes shining with curiosity. He handed the paper over to her and she looked at it, scanning the letter, reading it. He knew she was probably having a hard time with some of the bigger words, but the way her eyes lit up and she looked up to him in excitement proved him wrong.

“Your my dad for real now?” He nodded with a smile on his face and he returned the hug when she threw herself into him. He held the little girl close and promised himself that he would never let any harm come to her if he could help it.


End file.
